With continued record numbers for major pro gaming events around the globe,eSports Management Group (eMG) has launched to cater to the growing needs of professional gamers. eMG's primary services include professional gamer representation, marketing, sales, event management and corporate consulting.

eMG was founded by respected eSports figure Tobias "Tumba" Sherman and Brian Balsbaugh, who since 1998 has negotiated thousands of sponsorships in golf and poker. The agency has already signed talent deals with Nick "Tasteless" Plott, Joshua "Clutch" Gray along with first person shooter veterans, Scott "Gandhi" Lussier, Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez, Danish "Dmaq" Maqbool and Counter Logic Gaming (CLG), the world’s top-ranked League of Legends team.

Balsbaugh talks about the importance of agents in pro gaming and why television won’t be as important for eSports as golf and poker in this exclusive interview.

How did this management company come to be?

The idea to start the agency came from Toby Sherman, who wrote me an email about a year ago with the idea to create the Poker Royalty of eSports. The more I learned about the industry, the more I became convinced that my skill set from representing professional golfers and poker players would translate perfectly to this industry. We then did a tremendous amount of due diligence on the size of the audience, the demographics and potential opportunities within the space. It became clear in January that this was something I wanted to pursue, so we put a plan in place to launch the business.

What are similarities between eSports and the golf and poker worlds you come from?

Golfers are independent contractors who travel around the world playing in tournaments for prize money. So are poker players. So are professional gamers. The best have a chance to monetize their celebrity and that's where we come in by negotiating sponsorships, licensing deals, appearances and several other income producing opportunities. We focus on the business side, so they can focus on what they are great at- which is competing at the highest levels.

What role will this company play in the eSports scene?

Our role is to serve our clients by providing them revenue producing opportunities. We cannot bind them to anything, the decision is always theirs. It's been my experience that if you just do a good job for the people you represent, everything else will take care of itself.

How many players do you currently represent and are you targeting all games on the circuit?

We launched representing only a handful of clients and plan on adding more over the coming months. It is important to us to be able to service all the games on the circuit. There are certainly differences within the game communities and we need to respect those, but my preliminary discussions with sponsors indicate a desire to reach a broad spectrum of gamers. We are in the process of positioning ourselves to do so.

Why does eSports need agents?

There are several reasons. First, we focus on the business side of things so our clients can focus on the game. Second, I heard a story recently about a teenager involved in a negotiation with a company for a six figure deal. That's just not a fair fight, no matter how smart the gamer is because they can't have the necessary experience at that age to know all of their options. Many of the companies I've worked with in the past actually prefer to work with agents because we make the deal making process smoother and ensure the talent holds up their end of the bargain.

What are the challenges facing players today?

From a business perspective, the biggest challenge is making sure the tournaments and media companies don't limit player income producing opportunities. Will eSports be more like the UFC or the PGA TOUR?

When a fighter signs with the UFC, they are incredibly restricted on the types of sponsorship deals they can do, whereas PGA TOUR players have very few limitations. There is a formula where everyone wins and that is where I hope eSports ends up.

As we see record numbers of streaming and growth, I've heard some players still make more streaming "practice" sessions than competing in tournaments. How do will your company help change that?

It's not our role to lobby tournament organizers for bigger prize pools. We don't represent all the gamers, only the clients we have signed to management agreements.

We've seen a lot of big brands come into the major leagues, but not with individual players yet. How do you see that evolving?

It's common for a company to perceive that it's safer to align with an event than an individual player, that's something that we've dealt with in both golf and poker. In addition, the leagues have marketing and sales departments that speak the right sponsorship language, whereas most individual players do not.

CBS is moving towards airing a Major League Gaming tournament this fall. How important is TV for eSports for major brands?

There is no question that television has traditionally been the most important factor when discussing sponsorship deals but eSports is completely unique in this regard. To date, this community has existed primarily online and streaming provides them the platform to reach greater numbers than television. MLG Anaheim drew 4.7m viewers over the weekend with 2.2m on Sunday alone. Those numbers beat several mainstream sports on television right now. Unlike most sports, eSports success is not dependent on television.

What opportunities does the streaming of global competitions open up for brands that are unique to eSports?

A rising tide raises all ships. History has shown golf companies rise with the success of the PGA TOUR and poker companies became very profitable as the poker boom hit. Which companies ride the eSports wave remains to be seen- our job is to make sure our clients are positioned to add value for the companies and share in the success.

What impact do you see newer games like League of Legend having on eSports?

I'm particularly interested in what the industry will look like five years from now. The rising popularity of League of Legends and the fact that new iterations of SC2 are set to release lead me to believe that eSports will be relevant for many years to come. One of the most attractive things about League of Legends is that it's free to play, which allows for greater access to the game and higher exposure. With more people playing and the stream numbers increasing, League of Legends will have a significant impact on viewership and live event attendance. Riot has proven that micro transactions can work in an eSports title.

How do you see big companies like Activision developing eSports- specific content with new games like Call of Duty: Black Ops II impacting eSports moving forward?

It is important for developers and publishers to evaluate the competitive aspect of the titles they intend to release. Part of this is getting the feedback of the Pro Gamers and achieving a balance that is fun to play for your average Joe, but able to be showcased the world over for its competitive format. Having a game become a successful eSports title lengthens the life cycle of the game allowing it to live longer and sell more copies than it normally would have.

I've been covering the video game space for 20 years for outlets like The Washington Post, Reuters, CNET, AOL, Wired Magazine, Yahoo!, Entertainment Weekly, NBC, Variety, Maxim, EGM, and ESPN. I serve as EIC of GamerHub.tv and co-founder of GamerHub Content Network, a video ...